2023 Florence Diamond League preview: Full schedule and how to watch
Olympic 100m gold medallist Marcell Jacobs is expected to finally race world champion Fred Kerley at the 2023 Golden Gala meeting, which takes place on 2 June. The Italian pulled out of the Diamond League meet in Rabat with a back injury.
Athletics
The third leg of the Diamond League athletics series takes place on Friday 2 June with a headline of stars led by Olympic and world gold medallists on parade at the 2023 Golden Gala in Florence.
As it was in Rabat on 28 May, the focus will be on the men’s 100m, with reigning world champion Fred Kerley looking to win the face-off against Italian Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs who opted out of the series meeting in Rabat.
Two other top American sprinters will join Kerley in Florence - rising sprint star Erriyon Knighton and 110m hurdles world champion Grant Holloway.
Also expect a scintillating women’s 100m with British Dina Asher-Smith, Marie-Jose Ta Lou, Americans Aleia Hobbs and Gabby Thomas in the line-up.
The women’s 400m hurdles will see world silver medallist Femke Bol seeking another strong performance while Kenya’s world and Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon is the top pick in the women’s 1500m.
Also confirmed for the Golden Gala are Olympic medallists Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda), Germany’s long jump queen Malaika Mihambo, and many more in what is set to be one of the most exciting athletics events of 2023.
Athletes to watch at the 2023 Golden Gala in Florence
Fred Kerley, Marcell Jacobs and Ferdinand Omanyala in the men’s 100m
The anticipated 100m showdown between Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs and world champion Fred Kerley didn’t happen in Rabat - track fans worldwide will instead be looking forward to the two meeting in the Florence Diamond League.
The Italian pulled out of the race in Rabat due to a slight lumbosacral problem. Kerley on the other hand was in his usual superb form, outclassing the 100m field to win in 9.94 seconds.
Lining up against Kerley again in Florence will be South Africa's Akani Simbine, second in Rabat and the current world leader Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ferdinand Omanyala (Kenya).
The European 60m indoor champion Samuele Ceccarelli who upset Jacobs in Istanbul last March, is set to make his Diamond League debut in Florence.
Erriyon Knighton leads the charges in the 200m
After skipping the Los Angeles Grand Prix, Erriyon Knighton, who has declared one of his goals for the 200m is to run a sub-19, leads a 200m line-up of athletes including 4x100m Olympic champion Filippo Tortu of Italy and Canadian 4x100m world champion Aaron Brown.
Liberian record holder Joseph Fahnbulleh, a finalist at the Tokyo Olympics, and Dominican mixed relay world champion Alexander Ogando will also be in Florence.
Dina Asher-Smith up against Marie Jose Ta-Lou in 100m dash
The women’s 100m may be missing the Jamaican superstars but there’s a stacked field led by British Dina Asher-Smith, the 2019 200m world champion.
After running the heats at the LA Grand Prix, American Aleia Hobbs and Ivorian Marie-Josée Ta Lou are also among the stars who are set to dazzle in Florence.
Ta Lou was expected to be among the frontrunners at the American meeting after dashing to a 10.88 in the qualifying rounds which was faster than Sha’Carri Richardson’s 10.90. The two heat winners, along with Hobbs, withdrew from the finals in LA.
Who will take the honours in the men’s sprint hurdles and how will Dutch star Femke Bol fare in the 400m hurdles?
Two-time world champion Grant Holloway’s sprint hurdles dominance was ended in Rabat, but he remains the top pick in Florence. Before Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell's win on Sunday (28 May), Holloway hadn’t lost a race since he finished third at the Diamond League in Lausanne.
He has a chance to regain his control of the 110m hurdles when he takes on the two men who joined him on the podium in Eugene - American Trey Cunningham, the silver medallist, and Asier Martinez of Spain - who was third.
Can Dutch Olympic bronze and world silver medallist Femke Bol win her fourth consecutive race at the Golden Gala? She could, if she manages to hold off Shamier Little, who is fresh from winning in Rabat.
Olympic champs Faith Kipyegon and Joshua Cheptegei
Since his breathtaking 10,000m win at the World Championships last year, the double distance world record holder Joshua Cheptegei has not raced on track.
The Ugandan launched his 2023 campaign in cross-country where he took bronze at the World Championships, before moving to the roads where he finished second at the New York Half Marathon. It’s another big season for Cheptegei as he aims for a third consecutive 10,000m world title in Budapest this August.
He will have formidable rivals at the 2023 Golden Gala in Selemon Barega, the Ethiopian Olympic 10,000m gold medallist, Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir (who raced to 12:46.33 last year), Olympic 5000m silver medallist Mohammed Ahmed (Canada), world 5000m silver medallist Jacob Krop (Kenya), Oscar Chelimo, the younger brother of Jacob Kiplimo, Ethiopia's two-time world indoor 1500m champion Samuel Tefera and Spaniard Mohamed Katir.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon will be determined to maintain her fantastic form with another Diamond League race win in the women’s 1500m.
Besides chasing her third world title, the Olympic and world gold medallist, is looking to better her 3:50.37 personal best this year as she targets to lower Genzebe Dibaba’s 3:50.07 world record.
Focus on Malaika Mihambo and Christian Taylor's return
The women's long jump field is led by Olympic and world gold medallist Malaika Mihambo of Germany.
The presence of Nigerian world silver medallist Ese Brume and Tara Davis, the Tokyo Olympic finalist, should offer a tantalising preview of the World Championships, while the competition will also feature home favourite Larissa Iapichino and Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers, fresh from her European Indoor triumph.
Olympic gold medallist and world champion Katie Moon, her U.S. teammate and world indoor champion Sandi Morris and Australian world bronze medallist Nina Kennedy are the headliners in the women's pole vault.
There is also a stacked field in the men’s triple jump, led by Burkina Faso’s star Hugues Fabrice Zango who jumped 17.88 in the season opener in Doha, the second-longest jump this season.
Besides the world indoor record holder, double world and Olympic champion Christian Taylor also returns to the series, seeking his first win in nearly two years.
How to watch the 2023 Diamond League in Florence
The 2023 Diamond League in Florence will be streamed in a number of territories on the Wanda Diamond League YouTube page from 20:00 local time (GMT+2). The livestream will not be available in all territories.
Sky/Rai has the broadcasting rights in Italy.
For viewers in the U.S., NBC has the rights and will broadcast on CNBC and on Peacock, while the BBC has the rights in the UK and will air it on BBC three.
SuperSport is the rightsholder for the 2023 Diamond League in most of Africa.
2023 Florence Diamond League full schedule
2 June 2023
All times local in CET (GMT+2)
18:30: Discus Throw Women
18:45: Triple Jump Men
19:00: 100m Women Master
19:10: 100m Men Master
19:15: Shot Put Men
19:20: 100m Men FISDIR
19:35: Relay M&W Youth 12x200 Final Mixed
19:43: Pole Vault Women
20:04: 400m Hurdles Women
20:15: 200m Men
20:20: High Jump Men
20:25: 3000m Steeplechase Women
20:42: Long Jump Women
20:44: 100m Women
20:56: 110m Hurdles Men
21:06: 5000m Men
21:28: 400m Women
21:39: 100m men Men
21:49: 1500m Women